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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28781046">War on my blood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaWayne/pseuds/AnaWayne'>AnaWayne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Greek and Roman Mythology, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>70th Hunger Games, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Death, Demigod Katniss, Demigods, F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Pre-War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:14:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28781046</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaWayne/pseuds/AnaWayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two centuries ago the Old Gods reappeared and destroyed North America. Now Panem lives in fear of angering them. Zeus wants nothing more with humanity, but after watching half a century of the atrocity called Hunger Games the Goddesses of the Pantheon had another say in this.</p><p>After being reaped for the 70th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, the secret daughter of Ares, God of War, becomes the face of the new Rebellion. Stuck between political games and manipulative leaders, she grows to be what the Goddesses of the Pantheon wanted from her.<br/>And through her, Panem will feel the wrath of Gods!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone! So it's not really a Percy Jackson crossover but there are similar elements, like Demigods and monsters.<br/>Hope you liked it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>PROLOGUE</strong>
</p><p>After being betrayed by humans the Gods had abandoned them, the interaction between Gods and humans had been minimal, non-existent one would say. Therefore there weren’t many demigods around. They watched from afar as humanity continued destroying themselves. When Panem, who per times prayed to them, started the Hunger Games after a rebellion they watched with sadness as children were placed in an arena to kill each other.</p><p>Aphrodite was one of the few Goddesses that still interacted with humans. Being the Goddess of Love, she found herself unable to stop loving humanity even after their betrayal. But in time she became furious when she saw the suffering and destruction caused by the Capitol.</p><p>“It needs to stop!” She said with determination as she entered the ladies' lounge. Surprisingly most of the goddesses were there.</p><p>“We have been passed this for decades… Humanity will always be like this.” Athena said while turning the page of her book.</p><p>“But all that suffering! Hera, you hear the children's prayers just like me! Someone needs to stop all this… This joke!” Aphrodite said with tearing eyes. “They are saying that the Games are not only a reminder of the rebellion but also a sacrifice for us!”</p><p>“What?” Hestia questioned in a hiss with an arched eyebrow.</p><p>“Didn’t you hear?” She questioned. “Last year, they had the second quarter quell. The President dedicated that Game to us! Said that they were to be the sacrifice for a good year! As if we would want children for sacrifice. As if we would approve placing children to unwilling kill each other as Gladiators!”</p><p>“That’s absurd!” Athena said in rage. “That’s not sacrificing, that’s an atrocity!”</p><p>Many other goddesses were humming in agreement and equal outrage and annoyance.</p><p>“And what would the Capitol know about sacrifice?” Hestia sneered. “They are arrogant and conceited. Spoiled! Incapable of understanding the value of a life!”</p><p>“We have to change it! For the children!” Aphrodite said again, her eyes looked at Hera’s.</p><p>“For once, I am forced to agree with Aphrodite,” Artemis said, with her hands in her hips. “It’s bad enough that they have it, but saying that we would ever agree with it?”</p><p>“Alright!” Hera said in a loud voice from her throne making every other woman turn their heads to her. “However, Zeus doesn’t want to get involved with humanity again. Not after the last fiasco.”</p><p>“So we don’t include Father until the last moment,” Athena intervened. “To take it down will take years, lots of planning and collaboration, and a child.”</p><p>“A hero?” Hestia asked and saw as the Goddess of Wisdom nodded. “A Greek demigod hasn’t been born in ten years. Where are we going to find one?”</p><p>“It can’t be ours,” Demeter said. “None of us would be able to hide the pregnancy from Zeus. Soon he would perceive what we are planning.”</p><p>“That’s true,” Hera sighed. “But I believe that one of the Gods can be convinced to lay with a human woman.”</p><p>“Hermes would be ideal,” Eris said. “He still interacts with humans, even he takes care to not impregnate someone he still lays with them.”</p><p>“We need a Hero! A victor, messiah, and leader!” Enyo said. “Hermes’ children had never been much of fighters.” Everyone agreed with the Goddess of War on it. “Apollo’s children are good archers, but again prefer the healing and artistic pursuits. Dionysius’ are party rats and drunks. Eros children are lovers, not fighters. Poseidon won’t leave the ocean for anything since… well you know: he sunk the East Coast and half of the West Coast too! Hades had never actually liked to interact with humans, and after last time there’s not a chance. Our best shot is a child from Ares!”</p><p>“It makes sense,” Athena said. “Ares is the God of War, the child will be a natural warrior.”</p><p>“But how do we convince him to have a child?” Artemis asked.</p><p>“That’s true, my son is too stubborn!” Hera said while frowning. “A child of my husband would be more powerful!”</p><p>“Yeah, but he always knows when he gets a woman pregnant and tries to hide the child from you,” Leto said while rolling her eyes. “Also, I am not sure if I would trust you with a child of Zeus’ infidelity. We all remember Hercules.”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter; Father hasn’t been around humanity in a while. He thoroughly avoids them ever since… He doesn’t even leave the Olympus anymore,” Athena said while diffusing the tension. “Ares is a better option. Any child of him is not only bound to be a warrior, but will also be Zeus and Hera’s grandchildren, and we all know that Hera tends to favor her bloodline.” Every goddess around murmured in agreement, Hera held her head high unashamed of the call out.</p><p>It was true that she tended to despise her stepchildren, even now she only tolerated most of them. The history was full of examples of her trying to get ridden of them. But Ares was her son, her favorite son. Of every grandchild she had ever had, those that descended from Ares had always been favored by her in a way or another.</p><p>“And how do you plan to make Ares have a child? He too avoids humanity,” Hera asked.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Every eye turned to Aphrodite and all goddesses were unsurprised by the playful determination semblance that she had. “Leave Ares to me! Athena, you are the Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy, give me the plan, and I’ll give you Ares half-blood child!” She promised.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Preparation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>ARTEMIS &amp; KATNISS</strong>
</p><p>The Goddesses all united themselves. From Persephone and Nyx in the Underworld to Selene and Adastreia in the skies, all Goddesses in the Greek Pantheon united themselves despite any grudge or strife between them so they could stop the Panem. Their Enclave, as they called themselves, had one objective and they would stop at nothing to reach it.</p><p>Aphrodite never revealed to anyone how she managed to convince Ares to have a demigod child. The Goddesses were surprised when Aphrodite informed them some years later that a Calla Hardley got pregnant with Ares child. They paid special attention to the human woman. She was a healer, a good woman that tried her best despite her bad circumstances. Soon Calla married a man, Remus Everdeen. It was almost ironic that the stepfather of their little hero shared the name with one of the sons of Mars.</p><p>The baby was born in the spring. To the Goddesses delight, it was a little girl. Artemis and Athena were extremely pleased with this and no one could deny that it would be easier for them to interact with female children than male children. It would be less suspicious at least. On the day the baby received the name of Katniss each goddess gave her some blessing. They were sublet, but in some years they would be fundamental for her survival. Hera, Demeter, Hestia, and Hecate made protections so they could conceal Katniss' existence from the Gods, knowing very well that if any God discovered her existence before the time, Ares would take the girl to raise her himself.</p><p>Katniss grew blissful unaware of the attention and expectation that her birth had bought. Her father used to take her to the other side of the fence and the Enclave watched as Remus taught her how to hunt. Especially pleased with them, Artemis made sure to bless their hunts frequently. When tragedy stroke: her father was ripped from her family and her mother zoned out, she assumed the role of provider for her sister. It was the same year that Apollo accidentally discovered the secret existence of his niece.</p><p>“What do you mean, that Ares doesn’t know of his daughter?” He asked Artemis in disbelief.</p><p>“He doesn’t know because it isn’t time for him to know yet!” Artemis replied with narrowed eyes. “If he knew of Katniss’ existence Ares would have taken her and she would have grown in Themyscera or between my Huntresses or in Hesperia with the nymphs!”</p><p>“She would be better off with the nymphs or the Amazons than with humans!” Apollo hissed. “Or have you forgotten what they have done?”</p><p>“No one could ever forget that, Apollo! It was a massacre I know, but that was over a hundred years ago. And you all had your revenge!”</p><p>“My children are still dead, Artemis. But you’ll never understand it, will you?”</p><p>“All of my huntresses are like my own daughters! How can you say that when a third of them died?” Artemis hissed in return, annoyed and hurt at her brother. “Anyway, Katniss will be different! She is to be a hero!”</p><p>“You blessed her?”</p><p>“We all did. Me, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia, and all the other goddesses.” Apollo looked at her in shock; he knew that some goddesses seemed to be in disagreement over everything every time. Like Aphrodite and Artemis, Hestia and Athena… Yet they were all in this. Whatever <em>this</em> was! “We were sick of hearing the cries and pleas and do nothing! How do you stand it, brother?” Artemis said with a haunted expression. “Every year Persephone receives 23 children that cry in her arms until they are confirmed at their violent death. Every year I hear thousands of mothers praying so their children can return home. Every year Athena and Enyo watch with broken hearts as children are forced to kill each other. Every year Hera and Hestia see families being ripped apart. We are sick of it Apollo! Father may want to bury his head in the sand, but we are doing something!”</p><p>“Only because it isn’t your child!” Apollo said.</p><p>“Trust me, Athena and Demeter considered carrying the Hero. Damn it! Even <em>Enyo</em> considered it! They didn’t because we couldn’t let anyone discover before the time.” Artemis snorted. “Katniss is what she needs to be, and you, brother mine, will keep your trap shut!”</p><p>“She is a demigoddess! It’s her right to be with the remaining of her people! Where we can keep our children safe!”</p><p>“If you want to help her, really help her, you’ll come with me to the meadow.”</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“She is nine years old now. Her stepfather is dead and she is trying hard to keep up for her sister,” Artemis said and Apollo looked at her with surprise. “No, Primrose is not a demigoddess too but is Katniss half-sister. I’m going to teach her how to hunt. How to survive! Remus Everdeen had taught her well, but she needs further instruction. Athena and I were appointed to become her mentors. But you are a decent archer and can teach her the healing arts!”</p><p>“Decent archer?” Apollo scoffed offended, missing the annoyance in his sister’s eyes. “I am the God of Archery!”</p><p>“Yet I am a better archer than you! But that’s not important. She only has a year before she is old enough to be reaped.”</p><p>“That’s why we should bring her to live among the immortals! The nymphs and muses would be happy to protect her,” Apollo tried to reason.</p><p>“Katniss is going to be a heroine and a leader… She doesn’t need protection, she needs instruction and confidence!” Artemis said.</p><p>“Be careful sister, you all are planning on making her a messiah, but will end up turning her into a martyr!” Apollo said but perceived the unrelenting semblance in the Huntress Goddess’ face. “But I’ll help you. I can, at least, teach her how to heal!”</p><p>And so it began. At first, the Goddess was in dismay when Katniss was too frightened to enter the woods alone after her father’s death. The young demigoddess tried to find scraps of food for her and her family; she made menial jobs for some coins that barely feed them for a day. The nine years old girl had even considered prostitution much to all of the Enclave's sadness. It was Selene, Astraea, and Aura that, two months later, managed to attract Katniss to the woods beyond the fence.</p><p>In the middle of the night, Katniss was awakened by the gentle touch of the moonlight and a breeze so soft that seemed to be caressing her skin. She didn’t know if the hunger was driving her mad, but she could swear on her life that she heard the breeze whispering in her hear: “follow the red star” while guiding her to out of the house. Looking past her widow she saw a star gleaming red in the darkness of the sky, all other stars seemed dim near her. And she felt the breeze once more.</p><p>It was a hot summer night in mid-July, yet not hot enough for a child to wander in the forest barefoot with only her beaten down bluish pajamas. The urge she had to follow the breeze and the star made her forgot about taking a coat or a put on shoes. She walked in soft earth and hard rocks, but not once did she cut herself. As if in a trance she walked past the fence and into the woods until she was standing right under the red star.</p><p>“You’re finally here!” A gentle voice said awaken her from the trance she fell into.</p><p>Startled Katniss looked around and found a woman standing behind her. The woman was beautiful, probably the most beautiful person she had ever seen. The night-dark hair was styled into half-up braids and the curls had silver gleaming under the pale moonlight, her sun-kissed skin seemed smooth and flawless, sharp features, and her eyes were silvery grey. Her white pleated dress seemed to be made of a soft, silky material that not many in the 12th District would be able to afford. The skirt ended just above her knees in complex embroidery of silver flowers, the dress torso consisted of butterfly sleeves and a V-wrap neckline but was mostly concealed by a large silver belt with rich details of deers and flowers. She used silver gladiator sandals and had a diadem craved with beautiful moonstones. A bow and a quiver full of arrows were resting in her back. There was something calm, soothing in her presence, yet at the same time, she felt like prey to a huntress.</p><p>“Who are you?” She murmured with a frown and the woman smiled at her.</p><p>“My name is Artemis, I am the Goddess of Hunts.” Katniss tilted her head.</p><p>She had heard of them in her history classes. The Gods of old! They had been believed for centuries in the early civilizations to then be forgotten for over two thousand years. Then they reappeared in the old USA.  No one knew what happened, but they all knew that someone had provoked their fury. And the whole continent felt said fury. Endless rains, volcanoes, lightning storms, drought, fire, floods, earthquakes, plagues, and wars destroyed entire nations for a period of 10 years. When their anger was finally subdued they disappeared again, as did the whole government of every nation in North America. The power vacuum let the opportunity for those that created Panem. Panem now tried its best to never anger the gods. They turned their adoration and prayers to them, they made sacrifices and feasts and holidays in their name.</p><p>It didn’t matter, they never attended the prayers or anything. They had forgotten humanity.</p><p>“Why are you here?” She finally asked.</p><p>“Because you, my dear Katniss Everdeen, are very special,” Artemis said while approaching her. “I have been watching over you for a time now.”</p><p>The Goddess was looking at the little girl’s eyes deeply. The questioning and suspicion were a clear sign of Athena’s blessing: wit. She measured what she should tell. Lies wouldn’t cut, she wanted Katniss to trust her. Trust them. They were her family and she was theirs. It was their duty to protect their children, all of the remaining children. It’s true that their nature was mortal, but it did not devalue their existence and life to their divine parents. If anything it made it more precious.</p><p>Her father, Zeus, had always been a cheater and a lot of problems would have been avoided if he knew how to keep it in his pants, but he had always been an excellent father. He provided, he protected and he cared. Ares was similar in this instance. His nature was belligerent and violent, his actions were more often than not questionable and hateful, and his image was covered in ambivalence. But as a father? He was a completely different person: he devoted time to each of his children, cared and protected, he provided and loved, he gave them everything they wanted (within reason). It was only around his children that he was somewhat tolerable. Keeping him in the dark about Katniss was already dangerous, oh! Who knew how he would react when he discovered that one of his children was raised among humans?</p><p>But Katniss needed to stay. She needed to be the Hope. It was through her that they were going to stop that atrocity mockery that they called games.</p><p>“You are a demigoddess, Katniss,” Artemis said before she could ask. “Daughter of a god and a mortal woman.”</p><p>“But my dad was…”</p><p>“Remus Everdeen may have raised you and given you his name,” Artemis interrupted. “But he wasn’t your biological father. Don’t blame your mother; while she does know that Remus wasn’t your biological father, she never knew that your father was a god.”</p><p>“Who?” She asked feeling small and vulnerable.</p><p>“Ares, he is the God of War and Violence,” Artemis sees as the girl flinches and sees yet another blessing: empathy, by Demeter. “Trust me; he isn’t always the monster the stories portray him to be.” He could be worse, but she knew that Ares would never purposefully cause harm or pain to someone of his own blood. Damn, he would burn the Capitol to its grounds for her even before meeting her. “You need to understand that not everything is black-and-white dear child.”</p><p>“Why are <em>you</em> telling me this? Why not him?” She asked and Artemis chuckled. The petulant demand was completely Ares.</p><p>“How would you have reacted to a 6’8” man in the forest in the middle of the night?” Artemis questioned.</p><p>“I would be scared,” Katniss finally admitted and Artemis gave her a winning smile.</p><p>“Yeah, Ares can be a little scary…” Artemis said with a smile. “But for you? He will never represent war.” That she could promise.</p><p>“Will I ever meet him?” Katniss asked and the Goddess smiles.</p><p>“One day, I promise!” Before the nine years old girl could ask anything else she spoke. “Katniss, in a few years some events, some <em>big</em> events are going to be set in motion. Events that will stop the Hunger Games forever.”</p><p>“So I was right…”</p><p>“What?” Artemis asked.</p><p>“Whenever the high priest said that the Gods were pleased with the Hunger Games, that <em>you</em> considered it a fair punishment, I got this feeling on my chest…” The young girl placed a hand over her heart. “A part of me always felt that it was a lie.”</p><p>“Because it is!” Artemis said forcefully. “We would never condone the murder of so many children for entertainment. It’s true that in the past we had gladiators to fight to the death, I am not going to deny it. But mostly they were criminals or volunteers and we never approved of children partaking in this atrocity. Not then and certainly not now!”</p><p>“I know,” Katniss said in a small voice and Artemis smiled at her.</p><p>“Katniss, we want you to be our champion.”</p><p>“What’s a champion?” Katniss asked, something telling her that the word had a different meaning to the Goddess than it had to her.</p><p>“A Champion is someone that we, as the Gods and Goddesses of the Olympus chose to carry our will. It will be through you that we will stop the Games and everyone that support it.” Artemis explained and Katniss looked at her with calculating eyes. Enyo’s blessing had been cunningness and determination.</p><p>“But if I do it, won’t I put my sister in danger?” Artemis wasn’t surprised by the question. Ever since the death of Remus, they all had perceived that Katniss held her half-sister as a lifeline. Especially because Calla was descending into a deep depression. Something that they needed to look after too, she thought.</p><p>“We are going to keep her safe,” Artemis promised, knowing that it was true. All the Goddess knew that it was a possibility that Katniss would ask it in return and they all agreed to protect her sister. Pleased Katniss smiled, and then she watched as determination started to burn like fire in her eyes.</p><p>“Then how can I help?”</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>NEMESIS, MELINOE &amp; The AMPHILLOGIAI </strong>
</p><p>The Goddess of Vengeance had to admit: she had never taken Athena to be that spiteful. Oh, everyone in Olympus knew that the Goddess of Wisdom could be cruel and ruthless; Medusa was a good example of what could happen when her fury was misplaced. But this plan had been… Devious, cruel, and merciless. Maybe she should pass more time with the “good girl Athena” after all.</p><p>For the last years the Amphillogiai, the goddesses and deities of dispute, and Melione, the bringer of madness, started to torment two Gamemakers. Fenwick and Kolinos had been mercilessly plagued with nightmares, visions, and hallucinations about the Hunger Games. They saw themselves as tributes. They saw their families dying. And slowly they started to hate the games they once loved. Fenwick gave in first: before the 62nd games started, when the children were already on the Arena, he entered the Gamemakers’ room with a hidden gun and discreetly locked the door behind him. It was after the bloodbath that he acted: he shot some of the Gamemakers. Killing three of them and harming two. And then he went on life, making sure that everyone in the arena and the country heard him.</p><p>
  <em>“I have failed these children! Every year we sit here and plan the most disgusting way of killing and traumatizing those children for the entertainment of some sick fuckers! I helped to torture and kill, I am guilty of manslaughter. But I can admit my sins and I hope that you’ll one day see yours… I know that I’ll burn in hell for it, but I am taking some of them with me. I pray to you, Dice, Goddess of Justice, to please have mercy of my soul!”</em>
</p><p>And more shots were heard. Fenwick killed himself, but made good to his promise and took six Gamemakers with him. Another five had been maimed. It was the first step. Creating a small consciousness in the Capitol about what the Games really were.</p><p>Yet that wasn’t the viciousness that made Nemesis’s respect for Athena grow.</p><p>Kolinos lasted longer. But he managed to find accomplices, other people in the Capitol that were too being plagued by Melione and the Amphillogiai. At Athena’s instruction Melione planted in Kolinos’ mind that the best way to make it up to the Gods for sins would be to sacrifice 24 Capitol children. And well… he managed it. Two weeks after the end of the 65th edition of the Hunger Games.</p><p>Nemesis was watching now with cold eyes as Kolinos had the 24 children: 12 boys and 12 girls, bound. Some at stakes, some at chairs. Somehow all the children he had chosen were specifically special. Some were children of politics that openly advocate for the Games and even asked to make it happened twice every year. Some were children of the priests that said that the Gods favored the Games. Some were children of Peacekeepers and Gamemakers. But the most special children Kolinos had managed to abduct were Nyssa and Ivy Snart and with them their mother: Evelyn Snart. The daughter and granddaughters of President Snow!</p><p>Unlike Fenwick that only managed to have his voice on live TV, Kolinos managed to make his act of vengeance be aired on every channel in the country. He killed those children, citing their parents' sins against the district children that were killed every year. Some he set on fire so they would die slowly. Others he gutted and let them drown in their own blood. Nyssa and Ivy were the last. On-live he turned to an utter horrified Evelyn her muffed voice begging him to let her daughters go.</p><p>“Let them go?” He asked. “Is this that you are asking me? Your father is the reason why many mothers lose their children! You all say that the Games are a way to make the Districts not revolt, a fair punishment they say! But I know what it really is. An abomination! Sick entertainment for sick people.” He slowly started to slice the 13 years old Nyssa. “Do you know how many children have been killed to this day? No? Let me give you the exact number of victims of this massacre: 1,542 children. That’s the exact number of district children that died to this day. Now tell me what makes you think that your daughter’s life is worth more than theirs?” With this, he sliced Nyssa’s throat. Evelyn started to cry as he approached her and removed her gag. Her eyes fixed on her dying daughter.</p><p>“They never did anything!” She sobbed as Kolinos approached a crying Ivy. “Please, not Ivy! She is only 9 years old! Please kill me!”</p><p>“No.” Was his answer as he started to torture the last child. Even Nemesis was feeling sorry for the girl, but she knew that it was a necessary sacrifice. “Do you know what happens to the victors, Mrs. Snart? Of course, you do, your husband helps your father with it. You turn them into whores and playthings. Did you know that Cashmere Karat was forced to have sex with a man old enough to be her grandfather because of your father? Oh, yes she was only fifteen. Did you know that your father sells the victors as playthings to be beaten, raped, and abused? Now imagine your daughters in this position. Sorry, <em>daughter</em>!”</p><p>“I’m sorry!” Evelyn sobbed. “I’m <em>so</em> sorry… But please, let her go! Ivy is innocent! She should not pay for my sins!” Fat tears ran through her face.</p><p>“Admit it! Admit your own sins.” Kolinos said with a dagger in Ivy’s neck. “Admit and I may let her live.” The image focused on Evelyn’s face.</p><p>“I—I helped father organize the Victors' agenda…” She admitted. “But is the only thing I am comfortable in doing… I don’t…”</p><p>“Oh… I know… You are not an extortionist.” Kolinos agreed. “You are only a conniving monster. You pretend that everything is alright as Mr. Snart and President Snow murder, exploit, and destroy this country.”</p><p>“Let her go!” Evelyn begged. “Ivy has nothing to do with it!”</p><p>“The children sent to the arena, the tributes, they are not responsible for the Rebellion. They were innocent! Yet they are forced to pay for sins that weren’t theirs. What did the High Priest Nero say? <em>‘The sins of the father run through the blood of the son’</em>.” And with it, he sliced the nine years old throat. A screeching sound was heard. Evelyn's cries of despair and pain filled the record for hours. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you the first Victor of the Vendetta Games: Evelyn Snow-Snart!”</p><p>It took three days for the President to find his daughter in the basement under the Arena of the 10th edition of the Hunger Games. Kolinos had used the same place they once used to entertain the Capitolites to destroy them. Evelyn had been left bound to her chair in the same place where she watched the torture of her children and was forced to watch the rotting corpses of 24 children for 3 days.</p><p>“I always knew that you were vicious Athena,” Nemesis said after watching the scene of Evelyn's rescue. “But never knew how much.”</p><p>“The people of the Capitol are going to be warier of the Games now.”</p><p>“Evelyn Snow wasn’t a monster, you know?” Hestia asked.</p><p>“She wasn’t pleased with the way things happened,” Harmonia said. “But she never once tried to do anything to stop it either.”</p><p>“She looked to the other side as children were murdered and made nothing!” Eris, the Goddess of Chaos said. “She sat there comfortably in her house and ignored the reality, but never voiced her discontentment, never tried to help.”</p><p>“She also knew about the resistance,” Athena revealed to everyone’s shock. “She knows the key players.”</p><p>“She could have helped them stop the games a long time ago…” Aphrodite murmured in disgust when she perceived what Athena was talking about. “She obviously knew about the sex slavery the Victors were held on. And never tried to help.”</p><p>“Evelyn had always been on the fence, you are pushing her to choose a side,” Hera said to her stepdaughter.</p><p>“This is going to make or break her,” Athena explained. “If it goes according to the plan, then her disgust towards the Game will only grow. She will turn into a rebel.”</p><p>“But she loves Mikhail Snart,” Aphrodite said. “She can choose to hate the rebels for what happened to her children.”</p><p>“Athena,” Hestia called the sage. “What will we do if it pushes her to the other side?”</p><p>“We destroy her along her family.”</p><p>Nemesis watched as the silver eyes of the goddess of Wisdom turned hard and cold. The viciousness appearing once more. Nemesis knew that Athena despised those that feared to chose a side, the uncommitted and detached that leeched and took advantage of the situation. She too thought that those that looked to the other side as atrocities happen were just as guilty of the crime. They were conniving and accomplices. It was time for everyone to commit to one side.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. First encounters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>KATNISS &amp; APOLLO</strong>
</p><p>Every Wednesday night, Katniss would go to the meadows to meet Artemis. The goddess would teach her about hunt and wildlife and survival tricks. Katniss would always go during the day to hunt, apply the tricks that Artemis taught her. In one of these hunt trips, as she called it, she met Gale. The boy was almost three years older than her, his father had died in the same mining accident and like her, he was trying to keep his family together. Before Artemis, Katniss was helpless of how to take the maximum advantage of her hunt, but the goddess taught her how to skin the animal right so she could keep the hide for clothes or to sell, how to shape bones into arrowheads, how to use the blood and grounded bones as fertilizer for a vegetable garden, how to keep the fat for culinary or to fuel a fire or even to turn into soap… Artemis told her that not letting anything go to waste would honor the life taken.</p><p>Knowing all this, she and Gale would try to keep those things so they could not only feed their families but also make some income. The Seam, where she lived, was the poorest part of the poorest district. The Hob, the clandestine market, was the best place to sell what they could. Katniss knew that it was because of Artemis that she was a successful huntress.</p><p>Two months later, when Katniss was approaching the meadow where she would meet Artemis, she perceived that the goddess wasn’t alone. The man with her was noticeable taller, had blonde hair, was using a white T-shirt, a flannel shirt, denim pants, and black sneakers. At first, he seemed a common guy, but something around him begged to differ. Artemis herself was dressed in common clothes: a forest green sleeveless T-shirt, camo pants, hunting boots, and dark brown leather jacket with a hoodie.</p><p>“There she is!” Artemis said when she arrived in the meadow. A fire illuminated it.</p><p>“Eh? This little pipsqueak is Ares’ daughter?” The man said while tilting his head. “She is too small to be <em>Ares'</em> daughter!”</p><p>“Just because most of Ares’ daughters tend to be bulky and tall doesn’t mean that Katniss will. Actually, I think she will take more after Harmonia or Hera than her father.” Artemis said and Katniss tilted her head too. The guy busted into a laugher.</p><p>“Oh! Crap! Look at these eyes, Artemis! So innocent and cute and sweet! I mean, she obviously wouldn’t inherit his eyes, but I never thought that she would be so cute!” He turned to her. “I can sense her aura… She is obviously a demigoddess, but if I had to bet I would say that she is either mine or Hermes!”</p><p>“And would lose the bet!” Artemis sneered. “Honestly, didn’t mother teach any manners? Introduce yourself!”</p><p>“Of course,” The guy, whose eyes were of a golden shade that Katniss had never once seen before, took her hand and kissed it in a bow. “I am Apollo, God of Arts and Healing! You can call me uncle!”</p><p>“Katniss, Katniss Everdeen.” She said with a low voice and the man, god, laughed again.</p><p>“Oh, she is so precious, sister! Are you sure that she is Ares' daughter and not mine?”</p><p>“Have you been laying with mortals again brother?” Artemis asked with an arched eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah… That’s true.” He said slightly more subdued. “So sister what are supposed to do now?”</p><p>“Artemis said that she was going to teach me about healing,” Katniss offered and Apollo looked at her sister.</p><p>“The only thing my dear twin is able to heal is a scratch unless you want a gruesome scar, that’s it!”</p><p>“Hey!” Artemis protested.</p><p>“You know that’s true, Artemis. I am the one that is going to teach her about the healing arts… Heaven knows that you would mess it up!”</p><p>“You are impossible!” The goddess complained. Apollo ignored his sister and turned to his niece.</p><p>“Do you know anything about healing?”</p><p>“My mom is one of the few healers of the Seam, but I used to spend my time with dad… I mean… Remus,” Apollo nodded at the words and internally cringed at the fit that Ares would have when he heard her call another man ‘dad’. Of course, his anger wouldn’t be directed at the sweet little thing in front of him, but probably at the goddesses that had hidden her from him for so long. “I know about some teas, but that’s it.”</p><p>“Okay… Then, my sweet little niece, we will have a long time ahead of us! And we will be better at doing it during the day. Artemis said that you hunt every Friday with a boy right?” Katniss nodded. “Are your Saturdays free?”</p><p>“I usually prepare the game to sell. Artemis showed me how to prepare it! And I sell what we won’t eat on the Hob on Sundays.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” The god said, but there was a frown on his face. “What about Monday after school? It should give us enough time for lessons.”</p><p>“Okay,” The girl shrugged. “But what do we do now?” She asked with a tilt of her head and Apollo had to contain himself to not pinch her cheeks.</p><p>“Now, you go home and rest! We will see each other tomorrow.”</p><p>The girl left alone, or so it seemed. Apollo perceived a small common kestrel following her, Hebe’s bird. There was also a light breeze that made her hair flowing behind her. Aura, the deity of breeze. The girl was being accompanied all the time it seemed.</p><p>“Why is she taking care of the family?” He asked as soon as he knew that she was out of the hearing range. You told me that her stepfather died, not her mother.</p><p>“Her mother is descending in depression,” Artemis said with eyes low. “She doesn’t pay attention to her or Primrose anymore. She is working in the automatic but is not enough. Aphrodite is thinking of pairing her up with someone.”</p><p>“That’s a high interference, sister,” Apollo said.</p><p>“She needs a mother, Apollo! And apparently, Calla is incapable of living without a man!” Artemis sneered in disgust. “Yes, she lost her husband. But the girls lost their father, or the stepfather, as is Katniss’ case. She is acting so irresponsible towards her daughters!”</p><p>“So… When are you going to tell Ares that he has a daughter? Because seriously, that pipsqueak will need protection!”</p><p>“Athena will step in her training next month. I taught her about archery and hunt and survival in the wildlife. Athena will teach her how to fight: hand-to-hand combat, and distance. You know that there isn’t a better warrior to teach her!”</p><p>“Enyo,” Apollo pointed out.</p><p>“Loves her, but has zero patient to be a teacher. Ares would never take her seriously.”</p><p>“With her size, he would be too afraid of snapping her in half,” Apollo murmured. “Why is she so small?”</p><p>“As much as we help where we can, they still live in the poorest area in the poorest district. Basically in the slums of the slums. When Calla was pregnant the Capitol started to demand a new tax, those that couldn’t pay suffered the consequences dearly. It was difficult for them to keep enough food on the table, and the little they had they shared with those that didn’t have anything.” Artemis explained and perceived as Apollo's jaw set in righteous rage. “Katniss was also born before her time, which did cause some complications. Hera breastfed her, but we couldn’t make her the burly girl that her sisters tend to be because it would call too much attention. She is healthy now, just small. But she will have a growth spurt sooner or later.”</p><p>And he understood what Artemis was saying. Yet he was enraged… He knew that in the Capitol they forced vomit so they could eat more. But here they were, making taxes that kept food out of children’s table.</p><p>“You didn’t answer: when are you going to tell Ares that he has a daughter?”</p><p>“Before her next birthday. It’s not that far away now.” Artemis said. “Also I am not the one that will be delivering the news.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Aphrodite and Hera are going to break him through it. You know that they are the only ones that can calm him down.” Apollo knew, everyone knew.</p><p>“Are you coming to the Olympus?”</p><p>“I’m taking my huntresses on an expedition. There is someone on our hit list to take care of.”</p><p>“You know, I finally understand why the men tried to keep the women occupied with their own little strife and encouraged their rivalry so much. United you are scary!” The God of Arts said.</p><p>“We are only beginning brother,” Artemis said before disappearing. Apollo took one last look at the path taken by Katniss before disappearing himself.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>The OLYMPUS</strong>
</p><p>The Olympus was chaos as of now. Because of a noisy Anemoi, Eurus, Zeus now knew about the existence of a demigoddess on Earth. An extraordinary meeting had invoked most of the main Gods. Poseidon had been annoyed to have to leave his kingdom to encounter Zeus. Hades was uninterested but appeared for the sake of not having to hear Zeus nagging in his hear for a whole century. Sitting on her throne Athena was sending annoyed glares at Eurus.</p><p>“Artemis, Eurus said that he found you with the child! A demigoddess!” Zeus started.</p><p>“If you are questioning if the child is mine, then you obviously already know the answer,” The Virgin Goddess smirked as the loud sound of thunder was heard.</p><p>“Artemis I am asking you were you with this child?”</p><p>“Yes father, I was with her. Her name, by the way, is Katniss,” Artemis said.</p><p>“How long have you been in contact with her?” The God of the Underground asked with narrowed eyes. “Also, how old is she? And when did you become aware of her existence?”</p><p>Under her breath, Artemis cursed her uncle. If her father was easy to anger until he could forget the original question, Hades and Poseidon were less so. But then, Zeus was usually more protective of children than any of them.</p><p>“I’ve been in contact with Katniss since mid-July, about six months ago or so. She is 9 years old. And I know about her ever since she was in her mortal mother’s womb.” Every male god started to murmur between themselves, trying to figure out who was the father.</p><p>“Who is the father?” Zeus asked the gods. “Who have abandoned their daughter between humans?” He asked enraged and another thunder was heard.</p><p>“He hasn’t abandoned Katniss, Zeus,” Hera said finally. Every eye turned to her regal figure at her throne.</p><p>“You knew?” The betrayed eyes of her father would have made Artemis sorry if she didn’t think that he was exaggerating.</p><p>“We all knew brother,” Demeter posed. “All of us, Goddesses of the Olympic Pantheon. From Astraea to Amphitrite to Persephone. We all knew. Apollo too! But only because, like Eurus, he is too noisy and went messing with Artemis’ things.”</p><p>The surprised, intrigued faces of every male there was comical. At least to Artemis that now tried to refrain herself to laugh. Her eyes moved to her half-brother. Ares was amused and intrigued, but Artemis could say that this amusement would die soon.</p><p>“Ares could not abandon her, if he didn’t know about her,” Hera finally said.</p><p>“What?” The War God asked when he finally understood the meaning of the words. “Are you saying that I have a demigoddess daughter? That you knew about her and not only concealed her existence from me, but also let her among <em>humans</em>?” He asked with an impressive sneer.</p><p>“We had our reasons, my son,” Hera said in a soothing tune.</p><p>“Katniss needs to stay among mortals,” Athena said.</p><p>“No, she doesn’t,” Ares said forcefully. “Especially not in Panem, where they can place her in that horrible atrocity. I’m taking her back!”</p><p>“Oh, shut up Ares!” Artemis finally said. “You can’t simply show up and demand her to leave everything she loves. Especially her half-sister!”</p><p>“She isn’t safe among humans!” Poseidon said. “We all know that humans are not safe for our mortal children.”</p><p>“They aren’t safe for each other either,” Demeter sneered. “It’s because of the horrible atrocity, as Ares put so correctly, that we decided that we needed a hero. When Ares accidentally impregnate a young woman we knew that we had our chance.”</p><p>“My daughter isn’t a tool, Demeter.” The God growled out and Artemis laughed.</p><p>“Oh Ares, you are right. Katniss isn’t a tool, she is a Champion. She is what we need to finally stop the Hunger Games.”</p><p>“We are not getting involved!” Zeus said.</p><p>“You are free to bury your head in the sand, husband mine,” Hera said rashly. “But we are already involved, we have every intention of destroying the Games and those that support this atrocity. While it’s true that we wanted Katniss to be our champion, we did not impose it upon her. She accepted it of her own free will.”</p><p>“Katniss is afraid that one day her sister or friends shall be reaped,” Artemis said.</p><p>"While I can agree that the Games have gone long enough," Hades started getting everyone's attention to himself. "I do not think that one of ours should be exposed to this danger."</p><p>"With us watching her back, Katniss will never be in real danger, and you know it, brother," Hera rolled her eyes. "Also she carries Ares' blood in her veins, she is a natural warrior. Are you really going to say that you approve of that disgrace? That you are happy when 23 children arrive at your helm?"</p><p>"You know that I take no joy in seeing children dying, Hera. Persephone is especially distraught at this time of the year." Hades conceded.</p><p>"Even Eris is dissatisfied with the status quo." Harmonia said.</p><p>"Why? It seemed like something the Goddess of Discord and Strife would approve of." Hermes said and Harmonia rolled her eyes and said.</p><p>"That's neither chaos nor harmony. Panem seems to be stuck in a perpetual limbo that leaves me and Eris dissatisfied." Her eyes then turned to her father. "You should hear Athena and Hera, Father. My little sister wants to stop the Games, and will not go with you willingly."</p><p>“I’ll gladly lock her in a tower and raise my legion to guard over her,” Ares said and Aphrodite laughed amused.</p><p>“You can’t take away her freedom, Ares. She would hate you for it,” The Goddess of Love said. “Look, Athena will be meeting her tomorrow after her school to teach her more of the hand to hand combat, why don’t you go with her?”</p><p>“It would be good, Katniss has been asking about you for a time now,” Artemis said.</p><p>“Pipsqueak is always asking when we are going to bring you,” Apollo said.</p><p>“Pipsqueak?” Zeus questioned.</p><p>“Yeah, she is tiny!” Apollo stressed. “Seriously: she was so small that if it wasn’t for Ares aura around her I wouldn’t believe that she is his daughter. So tiny and cute and sweet.”</p><p>“Didn’t she kicked your shin the last time you called her tiny?” Athena asked with an arched eyebrow.</p><p>“No, that was when he called remarked on how dainty she looked with the twin braids,” Artemis smirked. “The last time he called her tiny she threw water at his face.”</p><p>“Seriously, she is nothing like you, Ares,” Apollo said ignoring his sisters. “Well, she does have a temper, can be quite petulant, and is quite easy to rile up, but physically? She won the lottery!”</p><p>“All my daughters are beautiful, Apollo,” Ares said with narrowed eyes.</p><p>“Thank you, father!” Harmonia said with a smile. “But what Apollo is trying to say is that your mortal daughters are usually more burly and tall, and Katniss is quite the opposite. She took more after me and Hera in looks.”</p><p>“And in temper,” Apollo added.</p><p>“She threatened to shot an arrow at you for having ruffled her hair,” Artemis smirked at him.</p><p>“Come on, she is too cute!” The Art God insisted. “Just like a kitten.”</p><p>“He is a goner,” Athena said to Artemis and she nodded.</p><p>“She is going to claw him up!” Athena and Artemis laughed at Aphrodite's remark. “Seriously Ares, you can’t simply take her to Themyssera or to Hesperia, Katniss is her own person.”</p><p>“We’ll see!” The angered god said after turning his back and leaving. Soon all the Gods and Goddesses left the room, only Zeus and Hera remained.</p><p>“You should never have hidden the existence of Ares’ daughter from him,” Zeus started in a barely contained fury. “Or leave our granddaughter between humans. She is in danger of being killed in those sick games of them!”</p><p>“Oh, Zeus, can’t you see?” Hera asked with a frown. “That’s exactly why she needs to be there. You used to fight against those injustices, but now you sit here moping and let that chaos reign!”</p><p>“The last time we helped humanity they turned their back on us, and my children ended up dead!”</p><p>“Then you should stop thinking as a father and start thinking as a God!” Hera said forcefully. “We are Gods, Zeus, it’s our duty to guide humanity out of these tragedies. This is why you should never have mortal children; you are too much of a father and too little of a king when your children are in danger.” She said a small lace of disdain in her voice. “Your grief had already been felt, but over a century has passed and you need to overcome it. Not everyone is bad.”</p><p>“Not everyone is good either.”</p><p>“I know,” She agreed. “But I’ll be damned if I let the bad overcome the good just because you can’t seem to think as a God. If you want to bury your head on the sand, do it.” She said leaving her rage appear in her voice. “But I had enough, Persephone had enough, Enyo had enough. We all had <em>enough</em>! Do nothing, you are good at it, but don’t get in our way…”</p><p>“Are you threatening me, wife?” Zeus asked with a mist of annoyance and lust.</p><p>“I am warning you, husband!” Hera said and left the room with the slamming doors behind her.</p><p>
  <strong>ARES &amp; KATNISS</strong>
</p><p>Ares passed the rest of the day annoyed. Unlike Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, Ares still had children alive. He had Amazons and Legion children. Not as many as he used to have, true. His Amazons daughters were all immortal, four of them: Hippolyta, Penthesilelia, Antiope, and Melanippe. The Legion held five of his immortal sons: Thrax, Damon, Jason, Alexander, Hadrian, and Nero. Many mortal demigods were also part of the Legion, including his sons. But he didn’t have a mortal daughter in the last century. As of now he only had four mortal sons, and the youngster was 23 years old.</p><p>The next day he found himself with Athena in a meadow covered in snow. It was January and the winter was harsh in this part of the land. Part of him was extremely annoyed that Athena made his daughter wonder in the woods when it was so cold. But then, if Katniss was anything like him, then she would do whatever she liked.</p><p>He saw her before she saw him. And well, Ares was right. The girl was tiny! Barely 4’ feet tall she was obviously small even for a 9 years old child. She was skinny and she couldn’t weigh more than 54.5 pounds. Her olive colored skin seemed pale in contrast with the jet black hair that framed her face in twin braids and fringe, her eyes silver-grey eyes had the same gold ring that Hera’s eyes had and her features were delicate like Harmonia’s. Ares perceived how big her clothes were on her: the loose black pants were tucked in the brown leather boots, the brown jacket she was using was obviously meant to a tall and broad man because hanged at her body like a dress, and even the grey beanie she was using was too large. Apollo was right: she was tiny and cute, and not at all like his daughters used to be. If anything it only gave him more reason to take her to a safe place.</p><p>She perceived him soon. Internally he started to question how she would judge him. The height difference alone enough to make the girl flinch. With almost 7’ feet he towered her far too easily. His olive skin wasn’t smooth as hers, and his black hair was sort at the sides and back and the top was slightly longer cut, he used his leather black duster, black jeans, combat boots and red T-shirt. For aesthetic purposes, or better say, to scare his enemies, most of the times he appeared with his eyes sockets empty and flames occupied the place of the eyeballs, but at Aphrodite’s suggestion (after all his daughter was not an enemy to be scared) his appearance that day included the black eyes with silver rings. He had a scar cutting his right eyebrow (curtsy of Enyo) and a scratch scar on his left cheek (curtsy of Cerberus). Ares knew that he was scary. Especially to 9 years old girls that shouldn’t be walking alone in the forest.</p><p>“Athena?” The girl asked his sister with an adorable (and he would forever deny that he had thought of it) tilt of her head.</p><p>“Hello Katniss,” Athena said softly. “Don’t be afraid, he is harmless.”</p><p>“To you at least,” Ares said with pursed lips, trying to contain an offending sneer. He saw as the girl relaxed and walked until she reached them.</p><p>“Hello, I am Katniss Everdeen,” Her soft, childish voice said and he smiled at her as he kneeled down to level with her height. Even then he was taller than her.</p><p>“I am Ares, your father,” He watched as her eyes widen in surprise and joy.</p><p>“Artemis told me that she was only going to bring you here before my birthday!” She said excitedly. “But I’m happy that you are here now!” He gives her a soft smile.</p><p>“It’s good to finally meet you.” He said.</p><p>Ares knew that he wasn’t a good person. As Ares he was belligerent and hostile. As Mars, he was harsh and stern. Yet Mars and Ares were the one and the same. The God of War and Violence. He wasn’t particularly loveable; there was a reason why he was the Zeus least favorite immortal son. But his children were the light of his life. They give him something to protect instead of just losing himself in the carnage of war. His children were what made him less cruel, less violent, merciful, and more carrying. But most of his children were very much like him in nature: belligerent, stern, and hot-tempered, with bulky, tall bodies and vicious sneer. Katniss seemed to be one of the few children he had that was opposite to him: sweet and charming, with small bodies and innocent features. Those few children were the ones that he protected fiercest, because more often than not they were the most target for his enemies.</p><p>“I believe that father and daughter will want to bound a little, so I’m just going,” Athena said with a smile and bent down to kiss Katniss’ forehead.</p><p>“But you said that you would teach me to use a sword today!” The girl protested and Ares looked at her with small pride at the interest that his daughter had for martial arts.</p><p>“There is time for me to teach you later, dear,” Athena said with a chuckle and then offered her a small leather bag. “Here, Hebe has sent you some sweets.” Ares's eyebrow arched at the implication. It seemed that the Goddesses have been feeding his daughter with ambrosia.</p><p>“Seriously? Her sweets are the best!” Katniss said. “Can I give one to my sister?”</p><p>“It won’t hurt,” Athena shrugged.</p><p>It certainly wouldn’t hurt. Ambrosia would probably make the girl stronger and more resistant to diseases since her sister was only human. To Katniss it would work on making her nearly invulnerable and enhance the gifts that his children usually had, including control over weapons, fire, their natural fighting skills, durability and speed, and induce some emotions like hate, rage and fear. Although the pacific nature that Katniss showed made him feel that she would never willingly cause induce emotions.</p><p>“I’ll see you next week sweetheart,” And the Wisdom Goddess disappeared. Her owl however remained perched in the branch of a naked tree. As a warning that she was watching them.</p><p>After Athena left the meadow fell in silence for a while until he perceived that despite her layers of clothes Katniss was still cold. His control over fire was not as great as Hephaestus’ or Hestia’s, partially because of his explosive temper, but he could still control it. With a snap of his fingers, he produced a campfire near the logs and invited the girl to seat near him.</p><p>“So… Sword fights?” He asked and she nodded.</p><p>“Yeah, Athena said that I should learn some fighting… Because of the games,” Her voice was small and again the protective urge to take her to Hysperia or Themissera resurged. “I already knew archery so she decided that swordsmanship was the next in the list.”</p><p>“Artemis taught you archery?”</p><p>“No,” He looked at her shaking her head. “My dad, I mean, my stepdad, Remus, taught me how to hunt. Because we are forbidden of having weapons he taught me how to use the bow and arrow.” A little flick of possessive jealousy went through him when he heard her calling another man ‘dad’. But then he didn’t know that she existence and couldn’t have been there for her.</p><p>“And he lets you wander at the forest alone?” She saw as her eyes cast down, sad.</p><p>“He died a little before my birthday,” She murmured. “They wanted to go deeper in the old mines, but there was a cave in and he died.” Not knowing what to do to comfort her he asked.</p><p>“He was alone?” The girl shook her head again. “Then he had a better death than many men.”</p><p>“Mom zoned out after it, now I have to take care of Prim,” Ares made a note to ask more about her life to his mother. “I already knew how to hunt, but Artemis taught me more things, things that even dad didn’t know! And Apollo too, I’ve been making and selling some medicine that he taught me how to prepare!”</p><p>“That’s good, then you know how to survive,” Katniss nodded at him and then he saw something there that was so unmistakably his that made him smile. Her silver-grey eyes seemed to burn like fire.</p><p>“I have to, who else would take care of Prim?”</p><p>They stayed there talking for sometime in front of the bonfire, until it was time for her to go home. She didn’t go alone; Athena’s owl followed her, as did Thyx, his Vulture. He decided that if she had to stay, then she would be heavily guarded by his servants. With a sublet manipulation of the mist it would be possible for him to place a legionnaire or an Amazon to keep an eye on her. It seemed that someone in the legion would have a new mission soon.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. About the Seam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>EVELYN, NEMESIS &amp; ENYO</strong>
</p><p>Athena’s plan to destabilize the Capitol was working. Ever since the aired murder of Nyssa and Ivy Snart the Capitol had been in shock. It wasn’t enough to make them stop the Games but it had been a slap at the Capitol’s face. Kollinos was still free. Every year he managed to abduct parents and their children and torture them on aired TV until the confession of their corruption and crimes. Thanks to this the public eye had become more aware of the Capitol’s activity with the winners and to contain the ire of even their citizens Snow had to diminish the sex services forced upon the Victors if only so they could deny. It still happened, just more discreetly and less often.</p><p>Enyo watched as another rebel group was formed by those that were following Kollinos. They called themselves Rhamnusia, an antique epithet gave to Nemesis. The Goddess of Retribution wasn’t thrilled for having her name dragged into the violent acts of the group, but Enyo could not deny that it was actually fitting. The other rebel group, one that had been functioning since the Quarter Quell didn’t want to be involved with Kollinos, but there wasn’t any sorrow spread for the lives the Rhamnusia took every year.</p><p>Evelyn Snart had been disappeared for years. Some said that the President’s daughter had to be admitted to a hospice after her trials, but it had never been confirmed. The truth was that after a year in the psych ward of the hospital, Evelyn took her things and disappeared. With her all-access pass she managed to travel through the Districts. Her heart clenched each time she perceived the difference between the Districts and Capitol. It wasn’t until she reached the poorest district that she nearly broke again.</p><p>District 12 had just one city. Despite having the highest birth rate in the country, they also had a dimming population with an even higher child mortality rate. Their population seemed to vary between forty thousand to ten thousand. As of now, before the 67 HG, or year 2224 AD, the District counted with exactly: 24,682 people. Of which over 20,980 were left to starve. Ember was the richest region, there were business owners, medics, politics and clergy, only 2% of the population, lived. Char was nicknamed Market because the official markets and merchants lived there. Even the Hob, a clandestine market, was there. The Seam was the poorest part of the district. Subdivided into slums and rural areas, it was there that 85% of the district’s population lived, or better: survived. Artisans, miners, and menial workers lived there with their large families. Seeing the utterly scrawny children starving in the slums made her want to cry. Even the 2% of the District 12 would be nearly beggars at Capitol standards. The people in the Seam would be long dead.</p><p>Since she had left the Capitol she had tone down her colors and fashion. Her clothes could easily make her pass as a member of the Ember society. Though her dark blue hair was less inconspicuous. That morning Evelyn was walking at the county side of the Seam when she perceived a small girl with a basket reaping flowers and herbs there. The girl was young, probably younger than 10, and was alone. She shivered at thinking about what could happen if someone with bad intentions approached her. Someone like Kollinos. <em>Or the Gamemakers,</em> a voice whispered in her mind.</p><p>“Should you be here alone?” She asked as she approached the girl that looked at her startled.</p><p>Evelyn perceived that the girl seemed to be less skinny than the children in the Seam, but only by a little, her hair was long, tied in two Dutch braids. Her long-sleeved dress was old, she could tell by the fading green shade, but well preserved, and over it, she was using a white apron dress. The only thing that didn’t add right with the outfit was the lace-up brown boots.</p><p>“Mom doesn’t care,” The girl answered after shrug at her. “And I need these herbs to do the concoctions.”</p><p>“Concoctions?” She asked curiously.</p><p>“Yeah, they are medicine for the families of the Seam, are you from Ember?” The little girl asked.</p><p>“No, from somewhere else… I thought that it was against the law to sell drugs outside of the Capitol approved pharmacies.” Evelyn watched as the girl’s eyes turned to her and started to analyze her. The girl then cracked a cute, wicked smile to her.</p><p>“The law says that you cannot sell <em>drugs</em> outside of the pharmacies, specifically <em>drugs</em>—I would know, I checked it before—but I am not selling drugs. I sell potions, concoctions, tea, and salves that happen to serve to relieve people of some diseases and injuries, working as medicine.” Evelyn's eyes widen at the way that the girl found a way to work around the law. “Besides, no one in the Seam has money to buy the drugs there.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.</p><p>“And where are your parents?” Eve asked.</p><p>“Dad died last year and mom… She may have died as well…” The sadness in the girl’s voice made Evelyn’s heart clench. “She is at home now, but she doesn’t do anything… The restitution money is going to end soon and we need to survive, my sister and I that’s it. As long as she is alive we won’t be sent to the orphanage, but she zones out, she attends the wounded that comes to our home, but other than it she does nothing.” There were resentment and pain at the girl’s voice.</p><p>“I see…”</p><p>And she did. The orphanages in the poorest Districts, like 10, 11, and 12, were all but forgotten. They received education and food enough so they wouldn’t starve, but they were also expected to work. The children there would rarely ever be adopted by families in the District because which family would want another mouth to feed? It happened, once or twice that people from Capitol that couldn’t afford to have avox slaves, would take in them to have free or low maintenance servants. When it came to true adoption from a couple that couldn’t have children, the Capitolites usually turned to children from District 1, 2, 3, or 4.</p><p>It made sense that the girl wouldn’t want to be sent there.</p><p>“Did your mother teach you how to make these… potions?” She asked, changing the subject.</p><p>“Some… But most of it, I learned from a friend. He knows better than anyone the art of healing,” For a reason, the girl smirked and looked almost conspirator. “What are you doing in the Seam?”</p><p>“Just looking for something,” The silver eyes looked at her with curiosity and she answered. “Clarity. Peace. Take your pick.”</p><p>“A friend of mine says that to have the clarity you need to know what you want and move in its direction,” The girl said and then reached the apron and took a purple candy from there. “Here, you look like you need something to get you better.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Evelyn said to the girl and then.</p><p>“Are you going to stay in the district for long?” The girl asked.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You said that you are from somewhere else other than Ember. You cannot be from the Seam or the Market, your clothes are way too nice for here and no one would throw their money away buying hair dye. You are not a victor because our District only had two, and one of them is dead. To travel between the Districts you have to have special clearance, something that is very hard for someone out of the district to get. So you are obviously from the Capitol, where the clearance is easily given.” Eve laughed when the girl ended her explanation.</p><p>“Aren’t you a clever one, dear? Yes, I am from the Capitol… And to answer your question, I’m going to stay here until April 30th.” It was March, the spring had only begun and the flowers were starting to bloom.</p><p>“Then I guess we’ll see each other around!” The girl said while leaving with her basket now full of herbs.</p><p>Nemesis had watched with interest the interaction between the Daughter of President Snow and the Daughter of Ares. It seemed that Athena had been right; Evelyn Snart only needed a push to decide her side. Aphrodite looked proud at her side.</p><p>“Evelyn had an enormous capacity to love,” The Love Goddess told her, “Her father and husband are only hindering this capacity… Getting out of Capitol will do wonders, you’ll see!”</p><p>“Athena seems to think that she is worthy of redemption,” Nemesis said.</p><p>“She may be,” Aphrodite commented and then moved, leaving Nemesis alone with the mirror that they used to observe Katniss. “But she has to do it herself.”</p><p>In the last glance, she watched as Evelyn popped the ambrosia candy that Hebe had sent to Katniss in her mouth. Yes, Nemesis could see that Evelyn was capable of redemption, but would she try to? When hell broke loose would she follow her conscience or her family and love?</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>GALE &amp; KATNISS</strong>
</p><p>Ever since Katniss had shown Gale the tricks that Artemis and the other gods were teaching her, the boy grew suspicious. He tried to ask, but never once the girl answered him. It irked him that she would keep secrets, but he couldn’t deny that her tricks saved lives. Thanks to them they could not only feed their family with the poached game but also knew how to use every part of it, not only the venison. They made money, not much, but enough to keep enough food at their table. However his family was bigger than Katniss’, he had three young siblings and a mother to feed. And because he was now eligible for the reaping he decided to fill his name for tesserae. He learned about mathematical probability in school.</p><p>From the 24 thousand and something of people in the District, only 3/5 were children between 12 and 18 years old and therefore eligible for the Games. There were more males than females, about 4/7 were boys. That would make at least 8.463 names on the bowl. When he signed for tesserae he placed his name 15 times. It gave him 0.18% of the chances of his name being called. Eighteen times the 0.01% of chances of someone that had only placed his name once. After the reaping of the 68th edition of the Game, his very first reaping, he was relieved that his name had not been called. But his cousin, Briar, had been picked as a female tribute.</p><p>“Do you think they’ll survive?” Katniss asked as her eyes looked at the horizon with sadness filling it. “Briar and Vince?”</p><p>“No,” He said after a while. “Did you know that Vince only had his name there once?” Vince was only 12 like Gale, he came from the Market.</p><p>“How many times did Briar had her name there?” Katniss asked.</p><p>“35 times I think.” Katniss recoiled at the number. “She had 0.55% of chances of being picked.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Gale,” She said placing her hand at his up arm.</p><p>“I hate this, Catnip,” He said in a low voice.</p><p>“It’s going to stop Gale.”</p><p>“If it depends on the Capitol the Games are going to happen forever…” Suddenly he felt himself be pressed by the small body of his friend.</p><p>“Gale, you have to have faith!” She said to him. “Gale, I promise you that one day this is going to stop!” She pulled away from him and somewhere in her silver eyes he saw a burning fire that made him believe her.</p><p>Suddenly Gale started to question why she seemed so sure. How could she have so much faith? And then he perceived that Katniss knew something. He wanted to ask what, ask how she had that calming presence that assured him that everything was going to be fine. But a whisper in his head said that it was better not, that whatever Katniss had to share she would do so at her own time. But something in her eyes, where silver and gold clashed, there was a burning fire that made him <em>know</em> that she was right.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ARTEMIS, APHRODITE &amp; KATNISS</strong>
</p><p>Artemis and Aphrodite were in the meadows with Katniss. It was Autumn and Katniss was sparing with Aphrodite. For the one that was the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite was a very good fighter, with a sword she was deadly. Artemis enjoyed watching Katniss spars. More often than not she would arrange for one of Katniss siblings to come and teach her more or pick one or three of her Amazons.</p><p>Athena had done an excellent job in teaching Katniss to strategize and fight. The soft techniques where Katniss would take her small form to her advantage and use the enemy's strength against him had been what had made her as fierce as fire when in a spar. Ares had never once tried to teach her how to fight, not only the God feared that he would accidentally injure his own daughter, but he also knew that he was not teacher material. He taught her how to throw spears and how to ride horses, Pegasus specifically.</p><p>“Alright,” Katniss said after falling in her back to escape what would be a fatal blow by Aphrodite’s sword, should the swords be real. “I think I got everything I could!”</p><p>“You are getting as restless as your father in a battle,” Aphrodite said.</p><p>“That’s true when we started to train you, you barely lasted 10 minutes; today you went for three hours straight,” Artemis said with pride in her voice. “That’s good, if you get picked that means you have a chance.”</p><p>“But I am going to volunteer,” Katniss said with a frown.</p><p>“You are only going to volunteer when you reach your seventeen, to the Quarter Quell,” Artemis said with a matter of fact voice. “But if you get picked before, then you’ll have a better chance than if we had waited to train you.”</p><p>“Indeed, we intend for the Quarter Quell to be the last game played,” Aphrodite said with a smile.</p><p>“And you, my dear Kat, will be the champion that will stop that atrocity for us.” Artemis smiled.</p><p>Katniss knew this. She had signed up for this. Every year that she saw people she knew dying in those games her will to stop them increased. But not only The Games, but Katniss also wanted to stop all that injustice and starvation. She wanted to make things more… fair.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ARES &amp; HERMES</strong>
</p><p>After Hera and Hestia explained Katniss home situation to Ares, the God of War had one of his rage fits and trashed half of his quarters in Olympus. Ever since the death of Remus Everdeen, Katniss had been the one that stepped up to keep the family alive. Calla had entered a catatonic state and all but abandoned her daughters to fend for themselves. The reparation money the Capitol paid to them lasted only three months and that because Katniss’ worked for it, but it didn’t stop the girl from almost starving and considering prostitution to survive. It enraged him that a child, especially his daughter, would be left in such conditions while people in the Capitol puked to eat more.</p><p>It also enraged him that Calla had zoned out and wouldn’t act. How could a mother abandon her children like this? How could she assume that she was the only one suffering? Hestia and Aphrodite wanted to find another husband for her, manipulate the situation more closely if only so Katniss and Primrose could have a little reprieve, but the other Goddesses were against that.</p><p>Ever since he met his daughter, he revealed her existence to his other children. His daughters wanted him to take the girl to the Amazons, and his sons too believed that Katniss would be better off with them. And part of him agreed. However, he could see now what the Goddesses were talking about the despair. He questioned how they all let it get so far.</p><p>Every two weeks he would interrupt her training lessons with Athena to pass time with her. He taught her how to throw spears. Despite her low stature, Katniss was a natural, she was his daughter after all. The first time Ares took Katniss to meet her siblings he spent hours hearing from his older children that she would be better off between them.</p><p>The first time she went to Olympus, at Zeus' invitation, she managed to charm every single god there. The Goddesses already loved her, for she was their little heroine, but the Gods that had every intention to dislike her beforehand, like Hades and Hephaestus were too enchanted by her. He could say that it was because her personality wasn’t as hostile as his and even when annoyed she looked much more like a kitten. But then, demigods were so rare now that they were more precious for them than they were before.</p><p>“One year,” Hermes said from behind him and he turned his attention to his brother. “One year until Katniss is fit for the reaping.”</p><p>“Don’t talk about it,” Ares grumbled. “Tyche said that they are not going to manipulate the odds, that what happens is what is suppose to happen.”</p><p>“No interference?” Hermes asked with an arched eyebrow. “I thought that the objective of all this was so she could survive on the games.”</p><p>“No, she is going to volunteer in the Quarter Quell. Athena wants the last Quarter Quell to be unforgettable.”</p><p>“These women are going to set fire in the country, aren’t they?”</p><p>“Do you have any doubt?” Ares questioned with an arched eyebrow. “They spent years planning and moving before we discovered anything. Athena has been planning this ever since the Second Quarter Quell. And they did it all right under our noses.” Hermes laughed.</p><p>“The Titans would be laughing at us now… Don’t worry, brother. It seems to me that Katniss had the best role models than a little girl could have asked for.”</p><p>“Still, why it has to be my daughter?” He hissed.</p><p>“Because, for your entire pighead-ness brother,” Athena started behind them. “Your children are still great warriors. Ever since Rome, after you abandoned that stupid ‘violence for violence sake’ stance of yours, your Legion is the paragon of soldiers.”</p><p>“I believe, that you called me <em>stupid, hateful fucker</em> in the Trojan War, sister,” He said with narrowed eyes.</p><p>“Yes, but being Mars made you less stupid. More disciplined and after that your children too became more disciplined. Less aggressive and more calculating. At Troy, you were all rage and hate, your time as Mars worked wonders for your personality.” Athena smiled. “Your children are not only innate warriors, but they also have discipline and leadership abilities. We only added some extra traits more in Katniss’ so she would be perfect.”</p><p>“You never told me about the gifts, sister,” Hermes said with a smile.</p><p>“Aphrodite gave her charm, I gave her wit, Hestia gave her fierceness, Hera gave her loyalty, Demeter gave her empathy, and Artemis gave her perseverance. There was also bravery, grace, resilience cunningness, and determination, by various other goddesses.” Athena said to them. “She will be just fine, Ares. I’m not going to lie and say that it will be easy, because it won’t. She will suffer, but she will thrive.”</p><p>“Just one more question, sis,” Hermes smirked. “What about that boy that runs after Katniss like a lovesick puppy?” He then laughed when Ares groaned like the overprotective father he was.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The odds were never on my side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi Everyone, hope you like this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>KATNISS &amp; ARES</strong>
</p><p>Ares was proud of his little spitfire. Today, 8 May of 2227 AD, or 70 HG, Katniss was making her 12 years old. Part of him was enraged that she was now fit for the reaping. But the other part couldn’t help but be proud of her. Katniss was a survivor. In a place where people died from starvation and cold, Katniss managed to thrive despite the circumstances imposed to her by her stepfather’s death and her mother’s near-catatonic state. Ares observed through his vultures that Katniss was respected by her peers and even by those older than her because of what she had become.</p><p>Calla was still in her stupor. She did almost nothing. She tended to the wounds of those that appeared at her door. Eat what Katniss pulled in front of her. Then she went to her room and cried the rest of the day while staring at a photo of Remus. Ares was thoroughly disgusted with her, the woman had all but forgotten her daughters. It was Katniss that made sure to feed them all, that arranged for Prim to have clothes, and took her to school. It was Katniss that organized all the house management and finance. That taught Prim how to make the concoctions and stock them. That would hold her sister when she had nightmares. To Katniss, Calla was just a ghost living in the house. Ares saw clearly as the day the resilience she had been blessed with whenever Katniss clawed her way out of the daunting fate that Calla’s depression sentenced her and her sister.</p><p>That day the two of them were sitting at the meadows alone. Katniss was happy to be in his presence if just for a while.</p><p>“Father, what happens to the children of the Games, after they die?” Katniss asked frowning.</p><p>“They go to the underworld,” He answered simply, he wasn’t going to lie. “Usually Fields of Asphodel or Elysium. The first is to where the people that don’t want to be judged or those that wasn’t bad or good; just were.”</p><p>“The uncommitted,” Katniss said remembering the lesson that Athena had given her. The uncommitted were people that never chose sides. They could see what was wrong but chose to not act for personal comfort.</p><p>“The Fields of Asphodel are well… Think of wheat field, and the soul stays there forever. Most people actually go there. Elysium is to people that either died a hero’s death or lived virtuously, the souls there pass the eternity in peace. Most children end up in Elysium because a child nature tends to be virtuous.” Ares explained and then perceived as Katniss relaxed against the tree. “There are those that end up in the Punishment Fields, where people that committed atrocities go after to pay for their sins.”</p><p>“The Gamemakers?” Katniss asked with hope in her voice and Ares nodded.</p><p>“Most of them,” He didn’t talk about Cornelius Crass that in The Hunger Games 45 sabotaged the arena and planed with the rebellion to save the tributes. Or about Lisita Pelar that gave every cent of her blood money away to District 12 after the 14<sup>th</sup> edition and joined the clergy to try and save her soul.</p><p>“If Athena’s plan works, I’ll be starting a war. Does that make me evil?” Katniss asked and Ares looked down at her.</p><p>“No, many people classify war as evil because of the lives lost. However, governments like Capitol’s are dictatorial and cruel and when you only watch as injustices happen then you are conniving with these injustices. When you try to stop them, even at the cost of war, how can it makes you evil?” Ares asked her back. And pulling a strand of her fringe out of her face he continued. “You are not looking for personal gratification, for power or riches, you want to stop something bad. You don’t need to worry, Spitfire, you are going to be alright.”</p><p>“Thank you, father,” Suddenly he felt her body relax against his and he embraced her with one arm. Ares wasn’t the most of physical affection with his children, but he wasn’t going to deny comfort to his daughter either.</p><p>Katniss only enjoyed the few minutes with the peace that she spent on her father’s arm before going home, a vulture following her. The rest of her day, Gale and Prim were beside her, trying to celebrate.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>EVELYN &amp; MIKHAIL</strong>
</p><p>Ever since she returned from her journey through the districts Eve started to feel out of place in the manor she lived now with Mikhail. The house, filled with avoxes and opulence now felt so stupidly frivolous that made her skin crawl. Her marital life wasn’t happy either. Mikhail was her father’s second hand and successor, like her father he believed in the system and failed to see how wrong the Games were. How wrong it was to force people into prostitution. So she decided that if she couldn’t stop what her father and husband were doing, she wouldn’t help either.</p><p>She no longer involved herself in the “Victor’s Duties” as they called it. She didn’t manage agendas or looked for clients. She didn’t appear in any of the events that showed support to the Hunger Games. Whenever the press asked her about the Games she made sure to say that she found them despicable and knew that there was a rising movement in the Capitol that wanted the games to stop. And she wasn’t talking about the Rhamnusia or the Rebellion led by Paylor and Havensbee. It was public, by some people that had the support of the Temple of Hestia.</p><p>“You need to stop, Eve!” Mikhail said one day after watching her citing several reasons on why the Games should be stopped on TV. “You are at the borders of treason!”</p><p>“Treason?” Eve scoffed. “These games are the reason our daughters are dead Mikhail! DEAD!”</p><p>“Nyssa and Ivy were murdered by a maniac, psychopathic maniac, Eve!” Mikhail said grabbing both of her upper arms. “The Games were his excuse, he would have to find another if the Games didn’t exist! Kollinos takes pleasure in murdering children!”</p><p>“That’s what you say to help you sleep at night?” Eve asked with a frown. “We sent 24 children to kill themselves so we can watch from the comfort of our homes while they die! If they refuse to kill each other they manipulate the Arena until it kills them. How does it make us any different from him?”</p><p>“That’s different and you know it! They are tributes!”</p><p>“They are children!” Eve screamed. “Children, innocents!”</p><p>“District scum!”</p><p>“Human beings!” Eve countered. “Mikhail, they are children… Whatever happened in the Dark Days is not their fault. They are innocents. And every time we send those children to the Arena their blood is in our hands. We are no better than Kollinos, you say that he takes pleasure in murdering children? Maybe you’re right, but at least he does it with his own hands. They don’t force them to kill each other. Because we are cowards, we wouldn’t have what it takes. That only makes us worse!” Saying that she gave her back to him and walked out of the living room.</p><p>Evelyn walked to her room and changed her clothes and left. That night she slept in the guest room.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>REAPING</strong>
</p><p>Katniss looked at her image in the mirror. She was using a simple white a-line dress. No sleeves, no details, it ended just a little above her knees. But she wanted to look the part. Over her left shoulder, she draped a long shawl of chiffon that Hestia had gifted her, and with a discreet, narrow belt she secured it in place, in the front and back it ended at the same height of the dress’ hem. The shawl was stunningly beautiful because of its vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow that looked like dancing flames. Her braids were tied as a crown in her head with a golden ribbon braided on them. She did look like a miniature version of Melanippe now.</p><p>She watched as Prim was using a bluish dress that Katniss had managed to buy for her. Calla was still in her room, lying in bed and staring at an old photo of Remus. Katniss thanked the Olympus that she already had changed clothes.</p><p>“Mother, we have to go!” She said loudly.</p><p>“Go? Go to where?”</p><p>“It’s June 10<sup>th</sup> mother. Reaping Day!” Katniss said forcefully.</p><p>“But already?” The oldest daughter rolled her eyes. “I thought…”</p><p>“We have to go before the Peacekeepers come with guns and destroy the house to take us there!” Katniss said.</p><p>“I have to… Prim.”</p><p>“She is ready, you are ready, <em>I</em> am ready. We have to go!” Calla nodded meekly and took the hand of an eight years old Prim.</p><p>Katniss made sure to close the doors and they walked in silence. Her mother was, as always, in that lethargic state where she did things automatically. Katniss hated that her mother had entered in her state of numbness and depression and let her and Prim fend for themselves. It was bad that Katniss herself had been only been nine, but Prim only had five years old at that time. Soon the Hawthorne family joined them. Hazelle was in tears, and Katniss knew the reason: Gale would take tesserae again.</p><p>They soon arrived at the place where they were picking the names and confirming everyone’s presence. Not bring the eligible children to the reaping was considered treason, and therefore the family would be executed.</p><p>“You signed to tesserae again,” She said with a sigh. “How many times?”</p><p>“35,” Gale answered. “Did you take tesserae?”</p><p>“I can’t take tesserae, Gale. You know it!” Katniss said.</p><p>Soon they were divided and Katniss found herself standing in the middle of six thousand girls. Some were already weeping, others were looking terrified. But Katniss held her head high. She knew that the Gods wouldn’t interfere in the reaping so everything was possible. Her name was one between the minimum of 6,021 names because she knew that some girls of the Seam had signed for extra food, probably many times over Gale.</p><p>Peacekeepers were carefully placed along the temporary’s fence to prevent the parents to reach for the children, or the children to escape. It took a while for everyone to be rounded up, but after an hour it all started. The Anthem and the video talking about the generosity of the capitol started and soon Effie Trinket, the escort of Capitol, tried to get a warm welcome. But everyone looked at her with dead, cold eyes and Katniss could see that she was affected by it more than her smile let it show.</p><p>“Well, like tradition demands: ladies first!” Katniss watched impassively as she took a paper. “Katniss Everdeen!”</p><p>A suddenly cold hand gripped her heart but she forced herself to remain impassive. In the background, she heard her mother’s pained scream and soon a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky as it fell in the Panem’s flag and burned it. Katniss gave her first step at the sound of the loud, violent thunder that followed the lightning. Giving the fact that the day had been with almost no clouds on the blue skies, Katniss could only think that the lightning had been a sign of her grandfather’s displeasure. As she walked the other girls cleared the space forming an isle, impassive and regally. Her head was held high, her face gave nothing. At the back of her throat, she started humming a song. In her mind, the lyrics made her strong.</p><p>
  <em>That I’d fallen for a lie?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You were never on my side</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fool me once, fool me twice</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Are you death or paradise?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Now you’ll never see me cry</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There’s just no time to die</em>
</p><p>Effie Trinket saw as the girl made her way to them with calm. The dreadful silence was interrupted by her humming voice. Usually, the girls would be weeping and crying, some needed to be taken by the Peacekeepers to the stage. But this girl walked as if she was a queen, or a princess gave the fact that girl was probably twelve years old. There was something in her eyes. Something that made Effie think of chaos, destruction, and retribution. She held a shiver that threatened to run in her spine and graciously helped the girl on the stage.</p><p>“Now for the gentlemen: Dan Benet.”</p><p>The boy had less reaction of the people. He was older, probably 17 years old. Had common features and was relatively healthy. He was tall and even muscular, and while the girl looked on fire. The boy looked dejected. As if he had already accepted that he was going to die.</p><p>“Here we have our own tributes: Katniss Everdeen and Dan Benet!”</p><p>Katniss looked at them and suddenly saw Greasy Sae and Ripper, from the Hob, raising three fingers. A funeral salute: a sign of respect and loss, but also of regret. It was their apology for their inability to stop the Games. Katniss, though, kept her eyes at the few Peacekeepers that were trying to put off the fire in the flag. But the flames only grew more. Hestia’s work, she supposed. Were all the gods reacting as violently as Zeus and Hestia?</p><p>Soon they were taken to separate rooms in the city hall. Her mother entered with Gale, Prim, and Hazelle. She was weeping and trembling and it only made Katniss rage towards her grow. Calla was going to have another breakdown.</p><p>“You need to stop!” Katniss said forcefully. “You have to take care of Prim, you can’t do it if you have another breakdown, mother!”</p><p>“I can’t lose you too, Katniss,” She said as she tried to embrace her daughter but Katniss stepped back.</p><p>“Lose me? You lost me four years ago when after dad’s death you left me and Prim to fend for ourselves while you cried your heart out and forgot that you were not the only one suffering!” She hissed and saw as the woman flinched. “You can’t do it with Prim now, I won’t be there. So you need to be strong!”</p><p>“Katniss,” Gale said with a soft voice, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You can survive, you have to come back!” He murmured softly.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Katniss smiled. “I’ll survive.”</p><p>“You can’t go!” Prim said while embracing her.</p><p>“I’ll be back, Prim. As soon as I can,” Katniss promised her sister.</p><p>“You can’t know it!”</p><p><em>I actually can,</em> she thought, but instead, she only made her sister look at her: “Have I ever broken a promise to you?”</p><p>“No,” The little girl said and Katniss nodded at her.</p><p>“Then trust me in this: I’ll be back!”</p><p>Soon they left the room and someone else entered. Madge Undersee was the mayor’s daughter, she lived in the Ember and wasn’t particularly beautiful, but her green eyes held a kind light in it. Madge was one of the few female friends Katniss had.</p><p>“Madge? I thought the visitation was over.”</p><p>“I sneaked,” She said lowly. “I’m sorry that you have to go.”</p><p>“I’m sorry too,” It meant that Athena would have to change her plans.</p><p>“At least you have a greater chance of winning than anyone else,” Madge said and then took something from her pocket. “Grandma said that I should give it to you.” It was a brooch with a golden Mockingjay in it. “She told me that it belonged to the first victor of the District 12, Lucy Grey Baird. They were friends…”</p><p>“Then she should keep it,” Katniss said, but Madge shook her head and started to pin it to her dress.</p><p>“Grandma said that you have the same eyes as Lucy Grey, the same fire. Take it as a token from the District,” Katniss nodded to Madge, knowing that the girl was too stubborn to leave with the brooch.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>DISTRICT 01</strong>
</p><p>So that everyone could see the Reaping live, they all occurred at different times. The first reaping was in District 12, the last in 01. Gloss and Cashmere were watching the reaping in a comfortable room of the prefecture, with the many other victors. At the first, when the girl's name had been called he had felt pity for the small girl, she had been at the back of the ropes so she was 12 years old. Then they closed in her face and his pity transformed in a shiver. Her face was cold, harsh, and impassive. Her eyes were determined, they gleamed and for some reason, Gloss thought of the arena again.</p><p>He looked around and saw his sister and the older Victors, his mentors. They all saw the same. They all perceived the same thing that he did. How could something so small give off that feeling in harden Victors?</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>DISTRICT 4</strong>
</p><p>Finnick saw the girl walking and the first thing he perceived was that she didn’t look like someone that was walking to possible (almost certain) death. She walked with grace and elegance, like a predator, or would it be a queen? The grace she walked in came to her much more naturally than to the woman in Capitol. She was serene, determinate and he dares to say: confident. She didn’t flinch when a bolt of lightning fell relatively close to her and started to burn the Capitol’s flag. She didn’t flinch as the loud thunder roared.</p><p>Katniss Everdeen was a name that he decided to keep in mind. That is <em>if</em> she survived through the bloodbath.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>DISTRICT 9</strong>
</p><p>At the age of 31, Adrian Staff was the youngster Victor of his district. Hunger Games 57. He had also been the only one to volunteer. He had always been observant and he knew to what look for in possible Victors. Till this day he hadn’t missed one. Most people would overlook the tribute from twelve. She was small, apparently frail, and looked oh so harmless. But he saw her eyes. Adrian saw her for what she really was: a demigoddess. A Greek one for the matter.</p><p>He knew that the Greco-roman gods had been all but inexistent ever since the Titan’s War. According to his father, Loki, most of them were also taken away as soon as they were born. However, he saw her standing there, and heard the thunder of Zeus. They weren’t ignorant of her existence and they weren’t about to let that slide either if the fire there was any indication of their ire.</p><p>His father had always explained to him that while many gods lost their power across the years due to the fault of remembrance, the Greeks didn’t. They could not be as adored as before, but they kept power due to their adaptability. When the Greeks civilization started to fall they migrated to Rome and assumed new names. When Christianism destroyed them as a religion, their great temples, statues, and legends made them unforgettable for any western civilization. Slowly they adapted and while not recognized as gods, they were patrons and symbols.</p><p>Until the treason, they were happy to keep in the shadows. Now they were adored again, making them even more powerful.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>KATNISS &amp; HAYMITCH</strong>
</p><p>The train was exactly what Katniss expected: opulent and luxurious. It wasn’t anything close to her the Olympus, or to Hippolyta’s palace, but a far cry for anything in the Seam. They were now sitting in the dinner compartment with Haymitch, Effie, and Bennet, Katniss was impassively calm. She planned her strategy in silence while Haymitch and Effie discussed why the first should not be drinking now, and Bennet looked at his plate with empty eyes and was dejectedly playing with the food.</p><p>“Well, at least you have some manners,” Effie said. “The last tributes had none at all. They ate with their own hands and didn’t even chew properly!”</p><p>“Are you stupid or just rude?” Katniss asked turned cold grey eyes to her.</p><p>“What?” Effie questioned offended.</p><p>“Kefera and Matthew,” she said emphasizing the tributes' names. “were from the Seam, where food is scarce. They probably hadn’t had a full meal in weeks before the last reaping. So you have to excuse them for not having manners. Talking about manners, aren’t speak ill of the dead a poor show of yours?”</p><p>All eyes turned to her and the compartment went silent for some time while Katniss returned to eat, until a cutting laugh escape Haymitch.</p><p>“You have some spunk for a girl that is going to die soon,” He said and Katniss gave him a smile.</p><p>“I am not going to die.” Katniss looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “Indeed, I am going to win these games and come back home.”</p><p>“Oh, and how does the little princess intend to do it?” Haymitch asked and moved to pick the bottle of vodka on the table, suddenly she stabbed the table almost chopping his fingers off but preventing him to reach the bottle. She heard an offended cry but ignore it, her eyes were locking the mentor’s attention in her.</p><p>“With or without your help, I am going to win this mockery of the tournament and go back to my young sister. My mother is useless in her catatonic estate and my sister is only eight. I need to come back for her or she will die. Your help would be much appreciated.” She said with narrowed eyes and Haymitch leaned back in his chair.</p><p>“Alright sweetheart, you have fire. You see to think that you can survive, tell me why.”</p><p>“I know how to fight, my teachers say that I am decent enough in hand to hand and sword fight, but my strength is archery. I can throw a spear, but they are more often than not bigger than me, so is not really productive. I have enough healing knowledge to stop blood poisoning. I know how to survive, and that’s what really matters.” She didn’t miss the surprised gasps around her but her eyes were sorely focused on Haymitch.</p><p>“You think that you have what it takes?”</p><p>“I know that I do.”</p><p>“How can you have so much hope?” Dan asked and Katniss turned her eyes to him.</p><p>“How can you not have any hope? I am not just going to lay down and die! I have people that need me back home. I can’t afford to go down without a fight!” Katniss said to him and there was something burning in her eyes.</p><p>“This district only had two victors…” The boy said while shrugging.</p><p>“If I die, I die knowing that I did my best! That I fought to survive!” Another thunder was heard in the background. “And trust me: I have no intention to die!”</p><p>“It seems that we may have a Victor this year…” Haymitch said.</p><p>“But she is tiny!” Dan protested.</p><p>“You have already given up, but look at her: there’s a fire in her. She is going to at the very least try,” Haymitch had to admit that he was impressed.</p><p>Since he became a Mentor he never met a tribute with so much fight in them. True there were those that were unwilling to simply die, those last longer than most. The majority of the tributes he mentored right out ignored his advice and died at the blood bath. But there was a little girl, small, tiny, and the picture of innocent with burning eyes.</p><p>“However, I have to say, you’ll be target by your size. They’ll think you an easy kill. But you can play from an angle that it’s not always possible: innocence. With these big eyes and small stature they’ll eat at the palm of your hand.”</p><p>“I hope so,” Katniss said but then shrugged. “But I’ll survive anyway.”</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>GAME CENTER</strong>
</p><p>“Mr. Gold?” A voice called Head Gamemaker from behind.</p><p>“Seneca, what do you want?”</p><p>“There’s a problem in the Arena sir.” Vespasian Gold frowned. In his 20 years as a Gamemaker not once there had ever been a problem in any Arena. Seneca then explained. “It seemed that a lightning storm hit the power generator of the field barrier and melted it.”</p><p>That year Arena had promised to be very interesting. A saltwater swamp to contrast with last year’s desert. It would give an amazing advantage for District 4, true, but he didn’t care.</p><p>“How long would it take to be substituted?”</p><p>“A month sir,” Gold growled at the information. “We can’t use the last year Arena… The Arena for the next year, the Woods, is it fine to be used?”</p><p>“We need to do some small arrangements, but I believe that it will be ready before the private training,” Seneca said after making some small calculations in his head.</p><p>“See it done. And be sure for the force field barrier of the Swamp to be substituted.”</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>CAPITOL</strong>
</p><p>That night a strong, unexpected lightning storm was going wild in the Capitol. More than one fire had started due to lightning and some people died when hit by them. The reports from District 4 would report a strong storm in the seas that caused two of the Peacekeepers' boats to sunk. The earth had shaken in Districts 2, 7, 8, and 10. Districts 1, 3, 5, and 9 were too affected by lightning storms. Districts 6, 11, and 12 were surprised by strong winds so powerful that they plucked houses of the floor. Surprisingly enough, most of the affected by the unexpected natural events were Peacekeepers and Capitolites.</p><p>Another thing happened that night, but after all the catastrophes everyone dismissed it as unimportant. Every flag or image of Panem and the Capitol at the temples across the country burned to aches.</p>
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